[Kwitty]

A friend acquired several 10 gallon bourbon barrels about a year ago. At the time they were freshly emptied and had about a gallon of reverse osmosis water dumped inside. He used all but one and offered it to me. I'd like to use it. I know it's better when they are fresh for sanitary reasons. I haven't opened it but I have been rotating it and it still holds water. Any ideas on how best to proceed? I've heard everything from a solution of water, sodium percarbonate and citric acid to dump the water, add a bottle of cheap whiskey, purge with co2 and roll the barrel for a few weeks. Anyone have experience?

[Visor]

   My usual process after emptying a barrel of aged beer is to rinse it several times, completely fill it with boiling water, bung it and let it set for at least several hours. After draining I dump 2 or 3 gallons of the cheapest whiskey I can buy [I have a coupe 5 gallon BBLs and a couple 6 gallon] and leave them like that until their next use, trying of course to remember to regularly turn the BBL. Ideally I'd prefer to completely fill the BBL with whiskey, but I'm far too cheap to buy that much hooch that I'll never be able to drink. If I don't have a week or so to "refresh" the BBL with whiskey I skip the boiling water as it cooks off more flavor and aroma than I'm willing to lose and instead fill it with strong sanitizer, bung it and leave it for a few days. I imagine someone will chime in a point out the flaws with my method, but so far it's worked for me. FWIW, the refresher whiskey usually takes on some of the flavors of the beer that preceded it in the BBL and comes out very different than it was when it went in, and yes I do re-use the whiskey for the next barrel, but I lose a fair volume over time and have to add another bottle from time to time.

[reverseapachemaster]

Two issues here.

1. Is the barrel capable of holding liquid without leaking? You may need to swell the barrel to tighten the staves before trying to sanitize it.

2. Sanitizing the barrel. You probably do not want to try to sterilize the interior with sulfur which leaves you with sanitizing options. Various chemical combinations can be used but at the risk that some of the flavors from those chemicals carry over into the beer. If steaming the barrel is an option that is another approach to consider that would sanitize without risk of introducing undesired flavors into the beer. Sometimes people dump in liquor and roll it around which is an ok but imperfect option. Personally I would steam if you can and use a combination of citric acid and sulfites if you cannot steam.

[Kwitty]

Thanks! It does hold liquid. There is still water inside and I rotate the barrel regularly. No leaks that I've seen. I guess I'll open it and inspect it. I'll see if I can build something to steam. If not I may just use the cheap whiskey. Thanks!